standing in the rain
by ruatcaelum
Summary: 'I don't want to go back inside, Owen. What's the point'
1. Standing In The Rain

'Gwen Cooper

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters, I just love them to death.

Summary: Set at some point after Combat and before CJH. Gwen/Owen, rating for some language. No spoilers as such, knowledge of S1 needed.

--

'Gwen Cooper. Who'd have thought you'd be one to stay behind,'

Gwen rolled her eyes as she heard Owen's voice from behind her.

'So I'm working late. Big deal.' She replied, typing more furiously on her keyboard.

'Yeah yeah, whatever.' Owen sauntered up to her desk and leant against it.

'Why haven't you gone home?' She asked after a moment, glancing briefly up at him, and he shrugged.

'Ain't got nothing to go home to, freckles. But you… you've got ol' Rhysy boy, haven't ya?' He teased and Gwen gave him a look.

'We've had a fight and I so don't really feel like going home now. There. I said it. Now will you please just piss off?' She said angrily and Owen raised his eyebrows at her.

'Sheesh. OK, OK. Calm down.' He raised his hands in defeat and slowly backed away, and turned to walk back to his desk before pausing and returning to Gwen's. Gwen ignored him.

'What did you fight about?' He asked, and Gwen glared at him.

'What are you, a couples counsellor? It's none of your bloody business, anyway.'

'Tell me.' He said and Gwen stopped typing to look at him oddly.

'Since when did you care?' She asked, swivelling in her chair to face him.

Owen shrugged once more. 'Just… nosy.' He replied and Gwen nodded, unconvinced, before turning back to her screen.

'Fine. If you must know…' Gwen started before sighing. 'He's convinced I'm having an affair.' She said quietly, and Owen almost laughed.

'Not too far off the mark there, eh?' He said, and Gwen glared coldly at him.

'That was ages ago. That is over. Don't even _go_ there,' She hissed at him, but he just stared at her.

'That's all it meant to you, then? You think of what happened between us as… nothing?' He asked, his face deadly serious.

'I love Rhys. So yes.' She replied, and the two glared at each other for a few moments before Owen turned away.

'I'll go and get some coffee then,' He said as he walked off towards another part of the Hub. 'You want any?' He called back over his shoulder.

'No ta,' She said quietly and Owen turned back for a second to see Gwen start working again, her dark hair falling over her face as she stared solemnly at the screen in front of her. Owen turned away again and continued to walk away, picking up his jacket as he passed his desk and heading out of the Hub.

Owen quickly paid for his coffee and walked out of the warm, dry interior of the coffee shop, out to the cold, windy outside world. It had started to drizzle and Owen glared up at the black, cloud-filled sky. Bloody brilliant, he thought to himself, before hunching his shoulders and walking back towards the Roald Dahl Plass and the Hub. He was about to head towards the small tourist office that served as the disguise for the entrance to the Hub, when he saw someone standing by his car. Intrigued, he changed course and headed for the nearby car park, the now heavy rain making it hard to make out the small figure.

'Gwen?' Owen said, surprised, when he reached his car, and Gwen looked away, the mascara and tear marks obvious down her face, even in the blinding rain, her long hair whipping wildly around her face. 'What are you doing out here?' He found he had to raise his voice over the quickly worsening weather.

Gwen didn't reply, simply stared at the ground.

'Gwen, what the fuck are you doing, you're gonna bloody freeze if you stay out here!'

Gwen looked up at Owen. 'I don't care,' She said, her voice choked with tears.

Owen sighed and moved to stand closer to Gwen, hunching further into his leather jacket.

'Gwen. Come on. Let's go inside,' He said, finding himself almost shouting over the now near torrential rain, but Gwen just shook her head, saying nothing.

'Gwen, it's bloody raining, come on! Don't be stupid!' He put out a hand to take Gwen's, and almost gasped when he felt how cold she was.

'I don't want to go back inside, Owen. What's the point?' She cried, tears starting to run down her face once more.

'Gwen, of course there's a point! You'll freeze to death otherwise. I'm a bloody doctor, I know these things!' He told her, but Gwen just shook her head, her hand limp in his.

'No there isn't,' She said, and Owen frowned at her. 'There's no point, not anymore. Rhys and I… we're over, Owen. I've got to face it someday. What else have I got?' She sobbed, not making any attempt to stop the tears running down her face.

'No, Gwen, don't think like that,' Owen urged, dropping her hand to take her face in his hands. 'This isn't the end, of course it isn't. You've got the most amazing job in the world-'

'And the worst,' Gwen interrupted and Owen smirked slightly.

'OK, whatever,' He countered, and Gwen smiled as well. 'You have the best and the worst job in the world, and you aren't half gorgeous, you've got your whole life ahead of you. So don't complain.' He smiled down at her, and Gwen tried to smile back, but the tears were running down her face so strongly she couldn't. Owen put out a thumb to wipe a tear from her cheek, staring down into her dark, watery eyes, before letting go of her face and taking her hand in his once more, leading her back towards the Hub.

'Why the hell were you standing by my car anyway?' Owen asked after a minute, and Gwen looked at him, squinting in the ever-falling rain.

'I… I dunno. I actually have no idea. I just had to get out of there, get out of that bloody Hub, and I ended up… by your car.' She replied. Owen gave her a critical look and Gwen laughed slightly.

'Don't look at me like that. There's no way I was thinking _that_.' She said, and Owen smirked at her. 'You know what, I think I'm just gonna go home.' She said, stopping walking and dropping his hand.

'You gonna be OK?' He asked her, and Gwen looked away.

'I'll see you tomorrow.' She said and Owen nodded, but neither moved.

'You know what?' Gwen said after a moment, and Owen just stared at her. 'When we were standing by your car, the only thing that was going through my head was "is he gonna kiss me?" How stupid am I?' She said, laughing embarrassedly, and Owen smirked back, saying nothing.

'Goodnight, Owen. I'll see you tomorrow.' Gwen said. 'Thanks,' She added. She quickly leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, before turning and walking away, off towards her car.

Owen stared after her, standing in the pouring rain, the only though going through his mind: "why didn't I kiss her?"


	2. Changes

The next day Owen wandered into the Hub and quickly hurried to his desk, quickly glancing at Gwen's still empty desk and sitti

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters, I just love them to death.

Summary: Set at some point after Combat and before CJH. Gwen/Owen, rating for some language. No spoilers as such, knowledge of S1 needed.

--

The next day Owen wandered into the Hub and quickly hurried to his desk, quickly glancing at Gwen's still empty desk and sitting down at his own.

'Morning Owen,' He heard Jack's voice come from his office, and Owen swivelled around in his chair as Jack emerged.

'Here.' Jack said, dumping a couple of papers into his lap. 'Double-check these reports with the ones on the computer in the lab,' He said, and Owen nodded, turning back round in his chair, and Jack paused for a second next to his desk, folding his arms across his chest.

'You seen Gwen this morning?' He asked, and Owen glanced at Jack.

'No. She was here late last night though. Why?' He said, and Jack nodded.

'Just wondering. She's late,' He said, and Owen glanced up at Jack again, not stopping working.

'She did say that she and Rhys had had a… a fight. I dunno. Things might be difficult for her right now.' He said off-handedly, and Jack stared at him.

'She said that?' Jack said, and Owen ignored him.

'Hmmm. Whatever,' He grunted and Jack raised an eyebrow at him, before walking off back to his office and Owen continued to work.

A minute or so later though the large metal door rolled open and Gwen ran through, storming over to her desk and slumping down onto her chair. Her long hair was unruly as it flew over her face and as she hit the chair, she quickly put a hand to her face to wipe it, sniffing angrily.

Owen stared at her, before getting up and slowly walking over to where she was sitting.

'You OK?' He asked, and Gwen glared up at him, still angrily scrubbing her face with her hands.

'No I bloody well am not. Now will you kindly piss off?' Gwen said sharply, her eyes red with tears, but Owen didn't move.

'Something happened with you and Rhys, didn't it?' Owen sighed, and Gwen glared up at him for a moment before her bottom lip wobbled and the tears started falling again.

'We had another fight yesterday when I got home last night,' Gwen said shakily, tears running down her face, abandoning all attempts to clean her face. 'We talked again this morning, and, now, we're over.' She sniffed, before glancing embarrassedly up at Owen and laughing slightly. 'God, I don't know why I'm even telling you this.'

'Because I care about you?' He suggested, and Gwen quickly frowned up at him.

'What?' She asked, staring intently at him, but Owen held her gaze.

'Of course I do, Gwen! You weren't just my occasional shag, you're my friend, my workmate… why are you looking at me like that?' He asked and Gwen continued to stare at him, before slowly getting up. She stood in front of Owen for a moment before taking his face in her hands and kissing him tenderly, pressing her lips against his. Owen wrapped his arms around her, kissing her back.

Gwen broke away and pressed her forehead against his. 'Why the hell didn't you kiss me yesterday?' She muttered to him, and Owen smiled gently back.

'Well, if it helps, I really, really wanted to,' He replied softly and Gwen laughed slightly, but after a second her smiled faltered, and she looked away.

'What's wrong?' He murmured to her, and Gwen glanced up at him.

'Even though Rhys and I are over, even though there's nothing stopping us any more, I still feel guilty. Like this isn't meant to happen.' She said uncomfortably, and Owen stared back at her in surprise.

'Well, of course this isn't meant to happen! We've tried this before, and you saw how… complicated that turned out to be. But that's not gonna stop me, and I'm hoping it's not gonna stop you,' He said firmly, and Gwen stared at him undecidedly for a second before smiling up at him.

'No.' She said softly. 'It's not,' She leaned up to kiss him again, removing her hands from his face and latching them around his neck. And at that moment, she knew everything was going to be OK again.

Reviews are love!


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